Authorities detain 2 Ugandan journalists on charges of publishing without license

Ugandan authorities should release journalists Dickson Mubiru and Alirabaki Sengooba, drop all criminal charges against them, and take steps to reform laws that can be used to stifle journalism, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On June 20 the Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court in the capital, Kampala, charged Mubiru, managing editor of the privately owned news website theGrapeVine, and Sengooba, a reporter with the outlet, with publishing information without a broadcasting license, according to their lawyer, Nasser Kibazo, and a copy of the charge sheet reviewed by CPJ.  Authorities cited a May…Read more

Pakistani journalist Khalil Jibran shot dead following threats from militants

The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply disturbed by the continued killing of journalists in Pakistan, including six in 2024 thus far, and calls on the country’s authorities to swiftly investigate the fatal attack on veteran journalist Khalil Jibran and hold those responsible to account. On the evening of June 18, unidentified assailants fatally shot Jibran, a reporter for the privately owned Pashto-language broadcaster Khyber News, in the Landi Kotal area of northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to news reports and the local press freedom group Pakistan Press Foundation. Two armed men dragged Jibran, former president of…Read more

At least 5 journalists harassed or assaulted covering pre-election events in Mozambique

  • Posted on June 11, 2024
  • /Under Assault
Mozambican authorities should investigate the harassment and assault of at least five journalists covering election-related events since March, and take concrete steps to ensure the press can freely and safely report on matters of crucial public interest leading up to the country’s October general elections, said the Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday. On May 16, in Mozambique’s central Zambézia province, about 10 private security guards assaulted and threatened STV reporter Jorge Marcos and camera operator Verson Paulo at a Renamo opposition party event, according to the two journalists, a statement by the Mozambican chapter of…Read more

Mozambique journalist arrested, 2 harassed and robbed at protest

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday expressed alarm that police arrested one journalist and two others were robbed of equipment while covering a protest in the Mozambican capital, Maputo.  At around 6:00 p.m. on June 4, seven police officers chased and arrested Sheila Wilson while she was reporting live from a protest by hundreds of former secret service agents over alleged non-payment of pensions, according to news reports and the journalist, who spoke to CPJ. Wilson, a reporter with the the non-governmental organization Center for Democracy and Human Rights, was broadcasting live on the Facebook page of the advocacy…Read more

Shooters attack three Pakistani journalists in two separate incidents

Pakistan authorities must immediately investigate the attacks against journalists Haider Mastoi, Khan Muhammad Pitafi, and Chaudhry Ikhlaq, hold those responsible to account, and take steps to end the intensifying wave of violence against journalists in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On May 29, an unknown number of unidentified gunmen on three motorbikes stopped Mastoi, a reporter for Sindh News TV and Times News media outlets, and shot him four times while he was on his way home in Rohri town, located in Pakistan’s Sukkur District, according to press freedom nonprofit…Read more

4 journalists killed in Pakistan, others attacked, in May

The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply alarmed by the continued killings of journalists in Pakistan, including four in May so far, and calls on Pakistan authorities to immediately investigate these incidents, hold those responsible to account, and end the wave of violence against journalists in the country. The killings represent the highest number of journalists killed in the South Asian country in any single month  since CPJ began collecting data in 1992. On May 21, Nasrullah Gadani, a reporter for local Sindhi language newspaper Awami Awaz, was attacked by armed assailants in the…Read more

Nigerian journalist Jamil Mabai detained by religious police while seeking interview

Nigerian authorities should swiftly and comprehensively investigate the detention of freelance journalist Jamil Mabai by religious police in northern Katsina State and hold them to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.  Mabai, who was on assignment for the privately owned Trust TV, had been invited to the offices of the Hisbah, which enforces Islamic Sharia law, on May 14 to interview their spokesperson, Nafiu Muazu Akilu, following reports that a wedding guest was shot dead while Hisbah officials were enforcing a ban on DJs playing music, according to the journalist, who spoke…Read more

Daily Khabrain reporter Ashfaq Ahmed Sial shot dead in Punjab, Pakistan

Pakistani authorities must immediately investigate the killing of journalist Ashfaq Ahmed Sial, ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice, and take steps to prevent the ongoing violence against journalists in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On the morning of Wednesday, May 15, two masked motorcyclists shot Sial, a reporter for the Daily Khabrain newspaper, while he was on his way to work in Muzaffargarh, a city in central Punjab province, before fleeing the scene, according to local nonprofit Freedom Network and news reports. Sial was taken to a hospital, where he died from his…Read more

Ugandan journalist Juliet Kyarisiima beaten and robbed while covering land dispute

  • Posted on May 21, 2024
  • /Under Assault
Ugandan authorities must credibly investigate an assault on broadcast journalist Juliet Kyarisiima, hold the perpetrators to account, and ensure that journalists covering public events do not face violence, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday. On the evening of May 12, in Uganda’s western Buhweju District, three men armed with sticks and machetes assaulted freelance reporter Kyarisiima while she was covering a public meeting on a land dispute pitting the local Catholic church and its parishioners against a businessman, according to media reports and the journalist, who spoke with CPJ via telephone. The meeting, presided over…Read more

Indian journalist shot dead on bike, another assaulted at BJP election rally

  • Posted on May 21, 2024
  • /Under Assault
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Monday’s killing of journalist Ashutosh Srivastava and Sunday’s assault on journalist Raghav Trivedi in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and called on authorities to thoroughly investigate the incidents and bring those responsible to justice. At about 9:30 a.m. on May 13, Srivastava, a correspondent for the Hindu-right wing news channel Sudarshan News and a member of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was shot several times by unknown assailants while riding his motorcycle at an intersection outside the city of Jaunpur, according to news reports.…Read more